VISITOR COLUMN

The month of November adorns welfare festivity in Tamil Nadu for one big reason: The birthday of one of the most immaculate filmmakers graces this month on its seventh instant. The title says it all. Kamal Hassan. Penning an article about this protean needs all the ink on Earth. Just as a tiny tribute to this thespian on this much celebrated season of his, this write-up covers the 3 big 'L's in him. Nothing that we never knew about him... Here they go:
 

 

The first 'L'- LOVER: When it came to romance, the black and white era of Kollywood was able to offer only heroes who had mounting tummies, balding head and could do nothing with those lavishing lead women, but run around the trees. Here came the 'lovable' lover with a trendy moustache, hunky body, charming eyes, winsome smile and glittery skin. And without much show or fuss, he subtly used this all to give the best of his 'love' to all the women who were canned in the camera with him.

 

 

When others 'acted' to love, Hassan 'loved' to act. Love is an abstract that is reciprocative. Love is an arrow that strikes you back. Hassan was such a lover that his eyeballs and nerves emitted love leaving even the most gorgeous divas paired against him go weak on their knees. And the result was, the best of romance sagas that Indian cinema had ever witnessed. I bet that Hassan would have romanced even a pig the same way if he had to do in the script. Any non-takers? That is Hassan, a true professional for you, who loved cinema than anything else his life. Kamal Hassan- An unadulterated LOVER of cinema indeed.
 

 

The second 'L'- LIAR: When you make a film, you should certainly try being fictitious to the little extent possible. To put it point blank, you need to lie a little. Hassan wasn't any exception to this fact. He was an outright liar too. But he never belonged to the fraternity of plain liars, who just gave worth for the bucks of audience. He gave some food for thought. He gave movies that could haunt and influence your silly minds, convictions and ideals throughout in a better way. And to the best extent possible, he has always made sure that his lies were never upright hyperboles to justify commercial viability. And hypocrisy is something that he has always not fancied much in real life, being a celebrity .

 

As frank and as dot as possible, he has always been clear and constant with his thoughts and beliefs in certain significant institutions. Kamal Hassan- a genuine LIAR indeed.
 

 

The third 'L'- LEADER: A leader is someone who leads by example, who leads by strategies, who leads by tapping the untapped and who becomes the benchmark for the ones to come and lead. Hassan has always been all this and more for cinema. Needless to say he is one who leads big-time by example.He has always given a tough competition for his co-actors to bring the best out of them . They have always taken a leaf or more out of him to get into the limelight. His strategies have meant business and more. 

 

Chalk down on any of the so called ‘A’, ‘B’ or ‘C’ centers. Most of his movies have always left an impression, little or big on them. He never plans on a constant template. Be it a big ticket or a small ticket movie of his, they have either been gold at content or at the box office or both. Hassan loves to tap the untapped. Be it with the genres or some remarkable artistes who were never used well much. They have always been used at the best and utmost by Hassan. Hassan has always been unusually usual. Kamal Hassan- a perfect benchmark and a true LEADER of his own kind.

He is an all time another ‘L’- LEGEND.
 

 

Birthday wishes sir. We are sure you would keep us entertained and enlightened better with every film of yours to come!